Pricing & business / Break-even
How many jobs to break even
Enter your monthly costs and your average job. See the jobs and sales you need each month.
Break-even / USD
Jobs needed each month
Enter fixed monthly.
How it works
Put in your numbers
Use your own rates, times and measurements.
See your answer straight away
It works it out as you type.
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Send it on, or keep it with the job.
What it covers: Count the jobs a month that cover your costs and reach your profit goal.
Free to use. No sign-in needed.
How to work out how many jobs you need to break even
Break-even is the point where the money from your jobs covers every cost of running the business. Knowing it tells you how many jobs you need each month before you make any profit. This calculator works it out from your monthly costs, your average job price and the cost of doing each job.
- Add up the monthly costs you pay however busy you are, such as vehicle, insurance, rent, software and your own pay.
- Work out your average price per job. Add up what you invoiced over the last few months and divide by the number of jobs.
- Work out the cost of doing one typical job: materials, fuel, tip fees and any paid helpers.
- Take the cost per job away from the price per job. What is left is what each job adds towards your monthly costs.
- Divide your monthly costs by that amount to find the jobs you need to break even. Round up, because you cannot do part of a job.
- If you have a profit goal, add it to see how many jobs and how much in sales it takes to reach it.
Tips and common mistakes
- Include your own pay in monthly costs. If you leave it out, break-even only shows when the business pays its bills, not when it pays you.
- If each job adds very little, you need a lot of jobs. Raising your price or cutting the cost per job can matter more than finding extra work.
- Use an honest average job, not your best one. Small jobs and quiet weeks pull the average down.
- Run the numbers again whenever your prices or costs change.
Questions
How do I calculate my break-even point?
Take your cost per job away from your average price per job to see what each job adds. Divide your monthly fixed costs by that amount. The answer is the number of jobs a month you need to cover your costs.
How many jobs do I need a month to make a profit?
Add the monthly profit you want to your monthly costs, then divide by what each job adds after its own costs. Round up to a whole job. The calculator shows this as jobs for your profit goal.
What are fixed costs for a trade business?
Fixed costs are the ones you pay whether you do one job or fifty. They include things like vehicle payments, insurance, rent, software, phone and your own pay. Costs that rise with each job, like materials and fuel, are counted in the cost per job instead.
What is contribution per job?
It is the price of a job minus the direct cost of doing it. That amount is what the job contributes towards your fixed costs and then profit. The calculator shows it as what each job adds.
Should I include my wage in my break-even calculation?
Yes, if you want break-even to mean the business can pay you. Leaving your pay out makes break-even look easier to reach than it really is. Include it as part of your monthly costs.
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